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Nikki Owen shares her insights
about charisma in the workplace

07 November 2017

The impact of perception on performance

With an ever growing array of development resources designed to support leaders in their quest for building a high performing culture, there is a simple tool with the power to completely transform employee productivity. It is a free resource and does not require any special training. Leaders don’t have to communicate directly with employees and it takes less than five minutes to do. The impact of using this tool will improve employee well-being, reduce stress, boost creative thinking, build collaboration and enable people to achieve peak performance.

To fully grasp the power and impact of this simple tool, take a glimpse into the fascinating world of quantum mechanics and its extraordinary implications. All matter in the Universe is connected on the subatomic level through a constant dance of quantum energy exchange. Each one of us is a packet of pulsating energy that constantly interacts with everything else. Ultimately everything is interconnected and our thoughts are literally changing the Universe on a particle by particle basis.

What does this mean to leaders in an organisational context?

The perceptions held by a leader will create an energetic pulse, a vibrational frequency that will at an energetic level be ‘felt’ by employees. Even though the employee will not be consciously aware of this energetic ‘vibe’ it will be received by the unconscious mind and cause a cellular reaction. If the leader’s perceptions are positive then they transmit these perceptions on a frequency that others unconsciously recognise as safe. The 70 trillion cells in the human body will respond by operating in a growth mechanism. If the leader’s perceptions are negative then they transmit these perceptions on a different frequency that sends a signal to the cells that there is a potential for danger. The body releases cortisol and adrenaline and this causes a cellular switch into survival mode. All the cells close down into mini silos. This cellular operating mechanism is reflected in the mindset and consequently the behaviour of the employee.

The employee closes down, disengages and turns inwards. They build an invisible protective wall around them that stops anything from getting through. In this physiological and emotional state employees are often viewed as negative, resistant, difficult to deal with and change adverse. This judgement feeds the energy transmission that perpetuates their fear.

Every perception we have is always inaccurate and incomplete. At a quantum level every potential exists in the energetic field of the Universe and it is only fixed into being when it is perceived. When you judge someone you fix that judgement as your reality and your intention energetically contaminates the other person’s energy field. Think about it this way. Emotions that make you feel good communicate on a higher vibrational frequency. Emotions that make you feel bad communicate on a lower vibrational frequency. Your perceptions determine your emotional response that creates the vibrational frequency that you transmit into the world.

To prove this I created The Big Apple Experiment. This involves chopping an apple into two halves. One half is placed in a jar labelled ‘respect’ and the other half in a jar labelled ‘judgement’. Over a month the individual sends different intentions to each jar and they then witness that the apple receiving judgemental intentions becomes significantly more decayed.

Targeting your thoughts produce an energy potent enough to change physical reality. A thought is not only a thing, a thought is a thing that influences other things.

The leader’s perceptions of their employees, their organisation, the world economy will have a huge impact on whether the culture and environment is one of safety or one fraught with danger. Consequently it is the responsibility of the leader to change their own perceptions so they empower rather than sabotage others.

When they observe a ‘negative or resistant’ employee they can best challenge their own perceptions by asking themselves the following questions:

If I was demonstrating these same behaviours, what would I be feeling?

What is this person scared of at a deep level?

What perceptions do I have that will be perpetuating their fear?

What else can I notice about this person that will cause me to feel compassion?

Positive reframing of unhelpful judgements and perspectives enables you to view the other person’s behaviour in a more constructive light. When you make it a habit to look for the positive or look for the good qualities in every person then you become a perpetrator of good vibrations. For organisational leaders, their perception is everything. Until leaders grasp the implications of managing their own perceptions they will obliviously undermine the actions taken by the organisation to move forwards. For an organisation to grow, employees need to be operating in a growth mindset. This can only be accessed when their cells are in growth because they have been bathed in the positive energy radiated from the leader.

At an energetic level you can’t fake feeling positive. To attain an empowering perception of people and situations takes repeated practice. Thoughts are the building blocks of the Universe. They are also the building blocks that form the culture of an organisation. The quicker that leader’s switch onto this important fact, the easier it becomes to positively influence a high performing culture.